Five Questions With . . .

THE GALLERY - Five Questions With...

Katie Melua, Singer/songwriter

It is always hard to describe your own music but, in this case, probably more so than usual because the album explores quite a few different styles. I have often said it is jazzy/bluesy/folky.

What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far?

Predictably, it is probably the moment when the album went to No. 1 in the UK. I had no idea it would stay there for six weeks, and it is really quite a bizarre feeling.

When did you first know you wanted to pursue music?

Almost everyone in [the Republic of] Georgia seems to sing or play an instrument or something, so music was around me throughout my childhood. In my early teens, I realized I enjoyed it enough to pursue it, but it was only really quite recently when I went to the BRIT School, which is a performing-arts school in Croydon [in the United Kingdom], that I realized that it was something I wanted to try to do as a job.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Oh, there are too many to tell you. As a writer, some of my heroes are Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Damien Rice, Jack Johnson and Cat Stevens, but as a performer, I am hugely influenced by Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?

Again, there are so many answers. I admire so many people that it would be a pity to just pick one. Obviously, Bob Dylan and Kate Bush would be high on the list.